After weeks of rumours, former AEW star (and Executive Vice President) Cody Rhodes made his WWE return during Night 1 of WrestleMania. As expected, the American Nightmare was Seth Rollins' mystery opponent, and he eventually defeated the Drip King in a stellar back and forth match.
Now, Rhodes has commented on his return during an interview with Variety. Revealing that he will executive produce a documentary on his father, Dusty Rhodes, for A&E, the newly signed WWE Superstar shared a few insights into his early conversations with WWE about returning.
"I told Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and Nick Khan — this very small circle of individuals — I told them what I truly believe and it’s that I’m the best wrestler in the world," Rhodes said of his plans in WWE. "And to go further with it, I actually don’t think there’s a close second. But with that said, the opportunity now exists to prove it, and that’s what I’m most excited about."
Understandably, the trade pushed Rhodes for details on why he left AEW. While there will be fans hoping for a tell-all interview revealing a lot of dirt on his former employers, Cody instead spoke positively about his time being "All Elite" for the company that beat NXT in the Wednesday Night Wars.
"I chose to remain silent about my departure from AEW and I’m going to keep my word on that. There’s no shoot interview. There’s no nefarious tale that’s going to be told. There were all these different theories and none of them are correct," he confirmed. "I mean, there were things about money and creative control. They were printed as fact and it’s been a very difficult two months to see that, when the reality is it was just time. It was a personal matter and we couldn’t move past it."
"I have nothing but respect for Matt [Jackson], Nick [Jackson] and Kenny [Omega]. I’m rooting for Tony Khan," Rhodes added. "His name is going to be in the history books as someone who helped to bankroll and support this entire alternative and revolution that AEW became but for me, it was just time to move on. I get an opportunity at my dream, I get another chance at it."
We're expecting Rhodes to talk more about his WWE plans during Monday night's episode of RAW, and it will be interesting seeing if this rivalry with Rollins continues or if he's put into the title picture. It would be surprising to see him pushed as anything other than a main event talent, though, and he's certainly off to a good start after a big win on the Grandest Stage of Them All last night.
Are you excited to see Cody Rhodes back in WWE?